Magpie Ethel

Alameda Road Trip...The Finds

I found some fun stuff on our recent road trip.  These finds are from a combination of estate sales, shops and the Alameda Flea Market.  Started junking on Friday...ended on Monday...4 days of junking.

I really do gravitate towards smaller items. I was looking everywhere for the vintage doll heads, so was happy to find a stack of about 20 at Alameda.  The wallpaper border is from the bin of them on yesterdays post (kicking myself for not buying more).  The mica birds and the millinery fruit were also found at Alameda.

A pair of devil flashlights that actually still work. I was lucky with reflectors. The bunny was in the free box.
I like the green of the old optical box. It holds little tissues to clean your glasses.
I was happy to find so many bunnies.  The two pose dolls sit on pincushions with tape measures attached. Spun head snowman and a polka dot chenille horse. When I was in Alameda a few years ago I found a bunch of honeycomb chicks.  On this trip it was honeycomb reindeer.

I found the sweetest child size pink plastic piano at a yard sale. The little pixie was Alameda found.
I did find some elves. I debated about the elf in the bright orange shoe, but figured I could make him a groovy elf with my crafting.
My dear count for the weekend was 15.
Hsts off to a pair of Easter candles.
Ceramic animals were plentiful.
The teeny snail family are a favorite.
At one shop I found quite a few curtain tie back tacks.
I found some great water decals as well as an enamel tin. The decals are already listed on Etsy.

Fourth of July crafting goodies. (thank you Elk Horn Vintage Supply and Claire's Cupboard)A set of cotton black faced minstrels. I could not leave them behind.
An assortment of clay faced Santas. I have not seen those in the pastel colors before.

I did find spun heads. Bride and groom spun heads. The tiny wedding topper with celluloid face bride and groom was one of my favorite finds...at $4!

This vintage paper tablecloth was in the free box at a sale.

I did find a vintage swim cap.  This one is nifty as it has a raffia style layer to it.

I also found a super pair of vintage glasses in a free bin.  

Fun find and good company.  Nothing like a good road trip...I thank my lucky stars for my junking buddy Amy...she makes every road trip an adventure.

Alameda Road Trip

Amy and I recently road tripped down to the Alameda Flea Market near San Francisco. I think this is the seventh time I have hit the show and the third or fourth time with Amy.  It is my idea of a good vacation.  No sandy beaches and frou frou drinks...give me a good junking adventure.

Amy and I junk the whole way down and back (we left on Friday). We hit lots of thrifts and antique shops. We both agreed that the pickings are not what they used to be on the road.  We both found fun stuff, but not in the quantity or with the prices that were in the good old days.  We did hit some yard sales and estate sales which were good to us with junking finds.  I did not take photos of the road trip itself..although I did document it on IG as we travelled and junked.

The Alameda Flea Market if massive. There are usually around 800 vendors. Amy and I arrived at 6:30 a.m. for early buying and it was chilly and cloudy.  I always bundle up for the early morning shopping at this event as it always takes awhile to warm up.  Amy and I went our different directions and started shopping.

I love the booths that have things in quantity.  Hats anyone?

Wallpaper in quantity.  I am kicking myself for not buying more of these. 

I did not want the rings, only the boxes.  They were display only. Drats.

The variety of dealers varies greatly.  Some are professionals and have beautiful displays.  Other vendors just come and throw it all out on a table or on tarps they toss on the ground. I liked this stack of bed trays.

I am not sure if this fellow sold this hot air balloon basket.  You see just about everything for sale.

I am not sure why I didn't grab one of these fellows after revisiting my photos.  They are darling. They do need a good cleaning.This entire booth was full of vintage French hair clips and accessories.  It was fun to dig through and she had them all arranged by color...very eye catching.

It was another great shopping day with Amy at Alameda. We shopped for about 7 hours and then hit the road and headed home.  I found some fun goodies at the show.  I didn't find anything to do a happy dance about, but I did fill my shopping cart.

A good day indeed.  Post coming soon on Alameda/road trip finds.

You can find more of my past Alameda Road trip on my sidebar...see Alameda Flea Market link

 

Alameda Flea Market Roadtrip...Finds on the Road. Post Four.

Part of the trip for Amy and I was junking our way back and forth through Oregon and California. We made lots of stops.  Some were duds and some were good. These are my finds from the road.  Amy spotted the estate sale sign, but thought it was more appropriate for me. I also found a great pinky/red metal stool which I need to recover.

I almost bought this little Easter bunny record on Ebay. I was excited to find one at a Chico antique store.

I have never seen a basket like this before. I have some lollipop holders that have these same graphics (made by Rosen), but the basket was new to me. I found it at an antique shop for $2.75!!

The silliest purchase, but my, oh, my are these child's shoes adorable. The color is amazing.A few ceramic figures for crafting and some ticket rolls for display.

A celluloid bird, a birdie pin and an owl pick.We hit the printing company again and I bought the rest of some old stock pads that I left behind on our last stop there. Old Ranch Romance magazines.Handy Hanna hairdryer in a wonderful green.  For display with a project I am working on.Vintage angel heads and some larger bingo numbers.

I always buy old chair webbing when I find it.  I got lucky with 6 packs!
I love this old mirror I got.  There is a funny story to my finding it. I had to use the restroom at an antique shop in Medford.  I was going about my business when I noticed the art of the wall was for sale. An unexpected bathroom bonus!

Another trip behind us. Great finds and the best junking buddy to hang out with.  Where will the roads take us next?

Alameda Flea Market Roadtrip...The Finds. Post Three.

I found some great stuff at the show. I got a box of Easter egg dye for my collection. I also found more rubber eggs that were once inflated. I found some at Round Top last year and had never seen them before.  Excited to add a few more to my stash.

Some vintage plastic bunnies. I now have a small army of those in front. I have mine hold lollipops (they originally have shovels).

I collect My Visit to Santa photos. I was surprised with My Visit to the Easter Bunny photos. The graphics on the folders are wonderful.
Fun photos inside.

A bit more Easter.

And a little more.  The nodder needs a little TLC.  I love the little honeycomb chicks.
I found a whole tiny flock of these chicks with hats.

A great trellis shelf and a couple of old Easter bunny heads.

This is an unusual find. I have a similar item I found on my Kansas trip.  The flag on the top reads MY FRIENDS.  It is basically a giant pincushion and should have little felt flag pins with it. I think you would write the name of your friends on the flag and put it in the appropriate spot to label your friend.   I would put a flag with Amy's name on the GREAT spot!  Dated 1965.
Some old honey boxes, party horns and candy containers. The honey boxes came from a booth run by Apron Thrift Girl. Amy recognized her and we chatted with her a bit.
Party invites, a baby toy and the cutest honeycomb cherries!

These wood stars will be perfect for some fourth of July crafting. Cake decorations and black bump chenille.

A pair of the swim shoes that I showed in one of the photos yesterday. I could not resist this unusual item. Will go in my someday beach house with my swim cap collection.

I pictured these yesterday in my post as well. This is an old stock vintage bridesmaid bouquet.  So unusual!I could not resist a clown party horn.  I have a bunch of oddball ones. This may be a collection challenge someday.
A WONDERFUL FIND.  An old linoleum poster with a bunch of varieties that were manufactured.
I want one of these designs in my house!

Good Alameda finds!  Post coming next on road trip finds.

Happy day!

 

Alameda Flea Market Roadtrip...The Show. Post Two.

We junked our way from Redding to our hotel in Emeryville on Saturday.  Sunday was the show and our hotel was located nearby. We were up at 5 a.m. and after grabbing a cup of Starbucks we were on our way.

Here we are at 6:30 when we entered the show. I am VERY excited and I think the coffee has kicked in. It wasn't too chilly and the sun was coming out. I had my sunglasses on by 7:30 in the morning!

This show is just plain fun. FUN!! Amy and I shopped for 7 hours.  So many wonderful displays. So much great vintage stuff. A perfect day.

I was recognized by a couple of vendors. That always makes me feel good. I was shopping in their booth and they asked me if I was Magpie Ethel.  They had read on my blog that I was going to be shopping there and they were looking for me. That was pretty neat. Hello Denise and friend!

I contemplated this umbrella. I loved the polka dots. I already have two in my backyard so I passed on it.

Last time Amy and I hit this show it was in August. It was fun to hit the show right before Easter as I scored some Easter goodies. (post coming)

I loved these old bridal bouquets. The vendor had found them in an old florist shop that had closed. There were bridesmaids bouquets as well as larger ones for the bride.

Some of the displays were definitely eye catching.

I was smitten with all these old ring boxes since I have a small collection of them. Only the rings were for sale tho. I was excited to see this display of swim caps and swim shoes. I had never seen swim shoes before. They were meant for walking around the pool area and are made of the same sort of material as the swim caps. If I had a mountain cabin to decorate I would have bought this can of fuel. The graphics were super.
Once you shop the show and are at the far end of it you are rewarded with a view of San Francisco in the distance.
One of the fun things about the show is people watching. There are crazy outfits that people wear. I did not see anything too outlandish this year, but loved the fellow's groovy shirt. You can rent shopping carts to shop with as well...this fellow needed one with his huge file cabinet purchase. Amy and I don't shop together.  We go our own ways. I was surprised to see her in the background of this photo when I was cropping it.

Amy and I had the best day. I think I smiled the whole time.

It was sunny and I got sunburned. I forgot sunscreen.  (I noticed a vendor putting some on and she gave me some when I asked..thank you kind vendor.)

Loaded up the car and hit the road.  Started driving home and spent the night in Yreka.  Post coming tomorrow on Alameda finds.

Such a happy day.

 

Alameda Flea Market Roadtrip...Best Laid Plans. Post One.

Amy and I planned to leave for Alameda Flea Market last Friday at 8:30 in the morning. We had a 7 hour drive to our hotel in Redding and planned to junk along the way.  I texted Amy the night before and told her to be at my house at 8 as there was a CHURCH SALE I wanted to hit before we left.  I figured we would hit the church sale and then be on the road.  However the church sale was really good and our car was semi filled (that was a good thing).  We decided to head back to my house and drop our finds off and then be on the road. On the way from the church sale to my house we passed TWO ESTATE SALES and of course we had to stop.

This is what we unloaded before we left town.

Here are my finds.

A bunch of cardboard Easter cutouts, an array of vintage plastic flowers for crafting, a great turquoise dish rack and a garland of tiny plastic easter eggs.

I found three boxes of Shiny Bright ornaments. Some were the plain kind, but some were awesome.
Awesome.  A Santa and a trio of sailors.
Oversized ornaments and some with crinkly wire trim.


A great plastic snowman

Two metal heart tins, wood beads, thimbles, an old needle book, vintage Valentine stickers and a couple of old jars with good lid graphics.

Amy and I wrestled this metal Fuller's tin sign from a shelf at one of the estate sales.

At one of the estate sales there was a pile of modern Halloween for one price. I sorted through the pile and noticed some old Halloween mixed in with the modern.  I am glad I took the time to look.

We finally left town at 11:45 in the morning.  Late, but what made us late was worth it.  Junked our way down I-5 and didn't arrive in Redding till 9:30.  A great start to the trip.

Another trip post tomorrow.

P.S. I am on my way to Junk Bonanza show in Minnesota today.  Can't wait to shop this show.  Post coming when I return! 

 

Alameda Antique Show..Long Post

I have done two previous posts on our road-trip down to Alameda. You can find there here,and here.

Now we are on to the show itself. Amy and I stayed overnight in Emeryville which is very close to the show. We got up at 5 a.m. and were at the gates at 6 a.m. (or just after) for the early buying time.  It was chilly and I had three layers on plus gloves! (this is August..dress in layers for this show).  Quite a few of the dealers were not set up at this early hour which made us question our early buying ticket price ($15). We ended up making two rounds through the show as so many of the vendors we passed during our first round were not set up. 

It turned into a glorious day after the fog burned off and the sun came out. It really is such a unique setting with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

Some of the vendors had gone to town and gotten their displays and merchandise out to buy at the 6 a.m. hour. Some were still pulling out tables.  Here are a couple of go-getter vendors with their set-ups.

This fellow had gotten all his stuff out and then fell sound asleep.  It IS an early morning hour.

Tons of vintage clothing. Fun vintage finds. I love the bread wrapping roll.

I thought about this sign for my bathroom. It was expensive and the glass was cracked on the back. I passed.

Super flower chair!

Loved the huge furniture sign. They pretty much only sold boots though. When I am not looking for vintage stuff, I am people watching. There are  wonderful outfits at this show that people wear!

Always love things in a group.
This was one of my favorite finds that I saw. An old playing card album.

It had over 2000 playing cards with wonderful graphics on the back of the cards.  I have a ton of playing cards, but this was pretty awesome. It was also $200.

I did find some fun stuff.  For me this show is not only finding stuff, but the scenery, the people, the food and the whole experience.  My finds seem to be all holiday based.

A bunch of old Halloween picks including two black cat spun heads.  I have not seen the little witches on the brooms before.
Great old candy canes on original cards (marked Japan), reflectors and glass garland.
Super snowman head. A herd of reindeer and a reindeer vase.

One more deer, some old ornament package tie ons, mercury glass picks and a fish rattle. Happy to find a larger Easter chick to add to my collection. He is about ten inches high.A spun head Uncle Sam.

A good assortment of misc. vintage Christmas.

Such a fun day. Such a fun trip with my favorite junking buddy Amy.  I so enjoy doing road trips like this...where will we go next!?

 

Alameda Road Trip - One Crazy Stop

Amy and I hit all the small towns as we drove up and down I-5 to the Alameda Flea Market outside San Francisco. One town that we hit we stumbled upon an old printing company.  It had some items dragged out on the sidewalk for sale. We went in.  It was like a time warp of a shop with old inventory from the 1950s and 60s STILL ON THE SHELVES and FOR SALE.

It was dusty but we spent an hour and a half searching for stuff.

Some old menu blanks to be printed up for menus with your information..with a cute little chef graphic.  A bunch of old receipt pads intended for restaurant use.  They are yellowed with age from sitting on the shelf so long. Old rolls of tickets, old map tacks (one lone box on the shelf for sale), penny roll wrappers and some old tags.

Great graphics on the tags.

Old signs.
A bunch of the old menu protectors where the menu slides in the plastic sleeve on the other side. And last but not least. Our last find in this shop.  Amy and I split them.  We bought FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT SIGNS.  We were only going to buy some of them and then we realized that this was one of those times we would kick ourselves later if we did not buy them all.

Amy and I were on a giddy sign high when we left.

I wish I had one of these in my house.

I think I could use more room for my vintage finds.  Crazy, crazy purchase and what a trip!

p.s. Signs will eventually be listed on Etsy.

 

Alameda Road Trip - The Trip Itself.

I have to break up these posts.  Such a crazy trip and fun finds. 

Amy and I left Portland on Friday after my good estate sale.  We basically hit antique stores all the way down and all the way back. There are some good shops and a ton of bad ones.  We drove and drove and spent the night in Redding, Calif.  Saturday a.m. we woke up and decided we should see if there was an estate sale to hit on Craig's List. We hit one sale. We got lucky.

This is my haul.

The sale was on the third phase and they were knocking down prices. I got three old scrap books and a bunch of old photos.

The scrapbooks are amazing.  Tons of cards and fun stuff.  I will do a post on those finds after I got through them. Here is a teaser.

I collect vintage photos of kids on Santa's lap. I especially love them in the old department store folders with the good graphics.
I have seen lots of old class photos but never one where the kids brought a favorite toy.

I can't wait to go through the scrapbooks and see what I find. I got three scrapbooks at this sale and one on Friday.  That is a crazy haul of scrapbooks in 24 hours!

I also got five bags of old vintage cards all from the 1950s. I have plenty of sorting to do.
Here are the rest of my finds from our antique shop jaunts on the road.  The wastebasket I showed in a previous post.

A couple of old putz style houses and some pine cone elves.

A pink metal pail that evidently belonged to Jeannine Withers (name scratched neatly on front), some turquoise plastic bell garland and a cute little pixie. A pair of old honeycomb flower pots. A star glass for my Fourth of July display.

Some killer concrete mushrooms.  This purchase left me giddy!  These mushrooms are huge!

A concrete pink flamingo.

We hit one spot on our I-5 drive that deserves a post of its own.  Stay tuned.  Alameda after that.